openoffice is an apache project, created when oracle gave them the code and rights to the openoffice project. ibm later donated symphony to them. anyone familiar with apache knows they do things their own way, and usually slowly.

libreoffice originated from a fork when openoffice’s status under oracle was in doubt. it progresses faster than apache, as most developers also switched.

onlyoffice is an entirely different application. decent enough, but with its own quirks. it can also be slow on lower-spec systems due to the heavy reliance on js. originally a latvian-russian project, it was reorganized (via new corporate entities in uk and sg) to hide the russian ties for ‘reasons’.

sounds like a ‘service problem’ someone once spoke about…

acquire your ms office ‘elsewhere’ and never link it to a ms account. same with windows. no msa, no ‘cloud’ to save to.

and there is a service problem here.

the new libreoffice won’t run on your vista.

that’s where most of my ‘issues’ come from when upgrading an old debian… upstream version changes to major software packages (python, php, even apache 1.x to 2 back in the day) that require some manual intervention

it’s really not their responsibility to babysit user-initiated configuration changes and third-party software during updates and upgrades. the user makes the changes that go ‘off book’ and uses ‘non debian’ software–so that is where the responsibility lies.

the joy of not having any microsoft accounts.

although i still do have to deal with this shit every day for other people. the ‘best’ ones are those with only a voice number on their account for a verification, from back before they went sms-only for phone numbers.

‘decision anxiety’ is definitely real. there’s literally too many choices and different ways to deliver the same end result.

ubuntu studio is an excellent choice for your use case. you just gotta jump in with both feet

the intel alder lake-n and twin lake-n have some chips with very low tdp… basically just the “e cores” from a desktop cpu, drawing as little as 6w tdp. nice chips if you don’t need the raw compute power of the desktop’s performance cores. they make for nice little servers and laptops for ‘normal’ users. minipc form factor desktops with them are very affordable.

i like my laptop ‘server’. low power chip that never throttles up to its max 15w tdp, runs cool with display off and lid closed, needs no kb and mouse attached, and the battery is just a bonus ups. it sits out of the way on a shelf like a book.

i only recently moved my main home pc from 8.1. there’s configs and software on it that would be difficult or impossible to recreate on a new install or pc. i even have a spare identical mb and cpu in case it’s needed. 1st gen. mechanical disks (several, sata ssd wasn’t that much of an improvement with the old controller for everyday use so i opted to keep the higher capacity) 32gb ram and pascal gpu. i skipped all the way to a rufus’d 11 and it’s actually running well (with all the crud ripped out, though). it dual boots with endless on a loop device. the upgrade didn’t even mess that up.

updates. the constant barrage of updates. the cpu, ram, and disk time needed just to ‘check’ for updates is horrible (it used to be a lot worse, too). and if you are still on an old-school mechanical hdd, those ‘cumulative’ updates are absolutely brutal every month with win10 or 11.

last week i booted-up a silverblue that hasn’t been run in a couple months. 8gb, mechanical disk, not a speed demon either–3rd or 4th gen. i didn’t even notice the updates were coming in until the notification popped up saying they were done.

don’t forget to pick up the original, which is also free. i put in way more hours into it than i care to admit when it was a new game.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/postal_classic_and_uncut

this worked. was already logged in. loaded that link in a different tab, went back to the other and refreshed. saw the cart had something, loaded it and was able to check out.

half the internet is 45 years old this year.

garbage in, garbage out.

Following the decision, Nvidia estimated the decision would cost the GPU giant nearly $10.5 billion in the first half of its 2026 fiscal year. AMD reported the export ban would cost the firm $1.5 billion in lost revenues in 2025.

and they wouldn’t be able to find customers elsewhere for their in-demand products to mitigate some or even all of that “lost” revenue?

if you go in not knowing what to do, it can seem ‘difficult’. but it’s mostly like on any other oem prebuilt:

optional: prep the target disk (backups, wipe or clear part table, etc), reset bios to defaults.

if necessary: switch from raid or rst to ahci sata mode, default boot mode to efi, disable secure boot. note that some distributions support secure boot but your method of creating an installer might not–you may be able to re-enable if you want after install.

note that hp systems have a hoop to jump through (a confirmation prompt to disable) after disabling secure boot on the next startup. do not use esc key to trigger boot menu, use f9 for boot menu, f10 for bios entry… as esc will cancel the confirmation code prompt and automatically re-enable secure boot.

insert or plug-in installer, hit the magic key upon power on (f12 for dell, f9 for hp) to bring up boot menu and select installer media, boot and run installer.

busch still works here, too. anheuser-busch was acquired by belgium-based inbev in 2008.